Chiefs in Driver's Seat to Playoffville

Chiefs get their third road win of the season and now only have two home games standing in between them and their first Division title since 2003.

They take the Governor's Cup and proceed to finish 4-0 against the NFC West in the process.

Coming into the year, I predicted the Chargers would finish 11-5 and the Chiefs 7-9. Some would have thought 7-9 and was optimistic. Once they started 2-0, I still was expecting a 7-9 season. This really is fantastic. They're 6-0 at home (Undefeated at the "new" Arrowhead)--close it out and host a playoff game. Let's do it.

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The Chiefs are 9-4 with Cassel starting and today's game showed how much of a difference he makes. His numbers were pedestrian, but he made some key scrambles in the first half, extending drives. The offense got off to a slow start, mostly due to some receiver drops. But scored 20 in a row, and then put it on ice when it was 20-13 with 4 minutes to go.

Oh yeah, and the Chiefs fans took over the Edward Jones Dome.

#3: Jamaal Charles


Charles was limited to 11 carries, due to some leg cramps. Throughout the game he was important to moving the ball, 6 yards here, first downs there. But when we needed someone to step up and seal the deal, he stepped up. 80 yards up the gut. Jones comes in for the vulture score. And just like that it's a 14-point win on the road.

With the long run he averaged over 11 yards a carry today. He should finish averaging over 6 yards for the season, blowing away every other running back in the league.


#2: The Defense



The offense struggled early. Drops, a rare interception. But the defense played complementary football. Held the Rams to field goals, didn't give up any points off the turnover. Decent pass rush, limited Jackson to 67 rushing yards, forced two interceptions off Bradford. Didn't allow the Rams into the endzone for the first 55 minutes of the game.

With the offense's slow start, if the defense had given up 14 or 17 points early, it would have put the Chiefs in possibly too big of a hole, changing our strategy.

#1: Matt Cassel


Just because he played the week after his appendix surgery, doesn't automatically make him the hero. But the way he came back, breaking free and running for first downs, popping right back up after getting hit, and energizing the team, he lifted the Chiefs today. I think the defense played much better than last week, knowing that we had a leader on offense that was going to win if the D did their job.

When the Chiefs were 3-0 but Cassel had weak numbers, you wouldn't believe how many Arrowhead Pride commenters were calling for Croyle. Cassel has that Brady-like intensity that has never made me doubt that he is the general of this team. Welcome back.